The rise of China has shifted the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region. China has tried to influence small island states that were previously under the spheres of influence of Australia and ...India by offering lucrative offers under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Small states remain in a quandary about how to approach the evolving regional security paradigm. Using a realism-based perspective, this paper explores small state options through two case studies: Sri Lanka and Fiji and contributes to the scholarly literature by analysing and drawing conclusions about small state options and whether they can opt to return to their traditional relationships and partnerships. The paper draws some conclusions that contrast with some realist assumptions, including a defiance on the part of small island states, who under the right circumstances can upend the status quo in the pursuit of greater economic benefits.
The adivasi insurgency, an offshoot of the colonial period, continued in independent India. Post-independence, government assurances to redress the forest and land rights remained mostly ...unimplemented. As an alternative, the adivasis joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist, CPIML). However, after neutralisation of the CPIML and failure to regain forest and land rights, the adivasis joined the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Witnessing the expanding threat from the Maoists, the government adopted a dual strategy. This involved first amending the Forest Act to woo the adivasis and second placing the Maoists on the terrorist list. However, not getting the expected results, the current Bharatiya Janata Party government adopted an integrated and holistic approach to rooting out the insurgency by further amending the Forest Act, offering attractive surrender-cum-rehabilitation incentives and launching an offensive against the Maoist leadership. Although the insurgency is contained, the operational fault lines still remain. This paper attempts to trace the antecedents of the adivasi grievances, the challenges posed to India's internal security and counter-strategies adopted by different governments to contain the Maoist insurgency.
Since the withdrawal of the U.S. forces from Afghanistan and the takeover by the Taliban regime more than one year ago, the new regime has been struggling to get legitimacy from the members of the ...United Nations. The past year has also exposed the complex network of various militant groups in Afghanistan that supported the Taliban against the U.S. but have now started pursuing their own interests. India and Pakistan face several militancy challenges that emanate from Afghan soil. In turn, India and Pakistan counterbalance each other by supporting different groups in Afghanistan. This article addresses the Taliban’s rise to power, the complexity of engagement with the new rulers, and the security implications for India and Pakistan in relation to Afghanistan. It suggests that zero-sum behavior and strategic theory can be windows through which Pakistan's and India’s engagement may best be viewed.
India and China, rising almost simultaneously as major powers, share a disputed border. In the 1950s, India aspired to a joint leadership for Asia's revival but Nehru's idealism and Mao's realism ...triggered the Sino-Indian War of 1962. It took India three decades to come to terms with Chinese political realism and initiate confidence-building measures. Nevertheless, bilateral trade interests converged while security interests diverged. Beijing adopted offensive realism while New Delhi followed defensive realism. When both confronted a 73-day military stand-off in Doklam, unexpectedly India demonstrated a miscellany of offensive realism whereas China constrained itself to defensive realism. Analysis establishes that they permeated their national characteristics while pursuing respective forms of realism. This article traces the trajectory of idealist versus realist perspectives that India has initiated to counter Chinese realism, analyses the two countries' offensive-defensive postures during the Doklam stand-off, and examines the specific national characteristics that both countries brought to realism.
India currently faces a security dilemma specifically because of the rise of China, Russia’s strategic convergence with China, and the US’s indeterminate Indo-Pacific policy stance. To overcome this ...dilemma, India’s shift from non-alignment to strategic autonomy poses several questions about its future strategic orientation, notably: Will India enter into a formal alliance with the USA, will India continue to engage China, will India retain close historical relations with Russia or will it more robustly pursue its ‘Act East’ policy? This article attempts a critical analysis of the different strategic options available to India and argues that while entering into a quasi-alliance with the USA, it will retain its strategic autonomy. India could simultaneously retain relations with Russia, China and the ASEAN. However, to the extent possible, its tendency will be to support a multipolar-Asia paradigm rather than a zero-sum alliance system to play a leading role in international fora.
The election of an indigenous (Adivasi) lady as the President of India added a new dynamic to the centuries-old Naxal insurgency in India. Not receiving a fair deal after India’s independence, the ...Naxals adopted Maoist ideology. By 2010 the insurgency engulfed one-third of India and posed a serious security challenge. Since then, the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments have adopted different strategies to curtail the insurgency, but it still persists. Against this backdrop, this article briefly discusses the historical antecedents; delineates in detail the operational strategies adopted by the Naxals, the counter-insurgency strategies adopted by the Congress and BJP governments; developmental challenges faced by the Adivasis; and suggests recommendations for how the President of India, an Adivasi herself, can be instrumental in containing the Naxal insurgency threats through empowerment.
India and Australia held a set of largely divergent strategic perspectives during the Cold War period, which prevented any significant strategic relationship from developing at that time. Since the ...end of the Cold War, however, strategic relations between the two countries, although still volatile, have steadily improved. This article argues that as the Indo-Pacific region is increasingly seen as an arena of strategic importance in both New Delhi and Canberra, there is increased scope for a further convergence of Indo-Australian strategic relations based on a series of shared core security concerns. However, in the context of a rising China and re-assertive US in the region, there is a danger that bilateral relations between each of the two countries and the US may serve to prevent a strengthening of independent Indo-Australian relations. First, the post-World War II security policies of both India and Australia are outlined, as are the places occupied by each country in the strategic perspectives of the other. Then, the post-Cold War convergence of security perspectives of both nations is examined in the context of the emerging importance of the Indo-Pacific region in terms of both non-state security challenges and traditional balance-of-power concerns. Finally, the pressures exacted on potential Indo-Australian strategic relations by a rising China and re-assertive US are considered. It is argued that although convergence has begun, India and Australia still have a long way to go before they can initiate a robust and independent bilateral security partnership.
The Paracel Islands dispute has recently resurfaced as a source of conflict between Vietnam and China, who both claim sovereignty over the islands from 'time immemorial'. This article re-examines ...their respective claims from an international law perspective. It also focuses on delineating the respective claims with emphasis on sovereignty, territory and self-determination. Based on available sources, this article suggests that Vietnam appears to have a more credible sovereignty claim over the Paracel Islands vis-à-vis China. Having thus assumed Vietnamese sovereignty, this article then sets out to explore the maritime zones that Vietnam would be entitled to under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
India's revocation of Article 370, which had granted Jammu and Kashmir a special status, has changed the security and strategic dynamics in the relations between India and Pakistan. India claims it ...is an internal matter whereas Pakistan considers it an international issue and pushes to resolve it in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions. While Pakistan has limited international support, it still vows to go to any extent to secure 'freedom' for the Kashmiris. The visit of US President Donald Trump to India and the signing of a peace agreement between the US and the Taliban have added new dynamics to this conflict. This article discusses the aftermath of the revocation of Article 370, outlines Pakistan's claims from an historical perspective, analyses immediate measures initiated by Islamabad, points out the available options Pakistan may see at its disposal, and provides critical assessment of each.
Cuba and its Neighbours: Democracy in Motion Ahlawat, Dalbir
Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research: The Politics of Identity in Latin American Censuses. Guest Editors: Luis F. Angosto-Ferrández and Sabine Kradolfer,
20/9/2/, Letnik:
20, Številka:
3
Book Review, Journal Article
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